Pistons at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers are trying to ride the inside-outside strength of LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard back to the postseason. Those two will look to continue their strong starts when the Trail Blazers host the Detroit Pistons on Monday. Aldridge is the first Portland player to score at least 20 points in each of the first six games since Clyde Drexler went 12 straight in 1988-89, and he is coming off his first double-double of the season.
The Pistons have the strength on the interior to neutralize Aldridge with Greg Monroe, Josh Smith and Andre Drummond but were beaten on the boards in each of the last two games - both losses. Drummond struggled with foul trouble the last two games and slumped to averages of five points and six rebounds after posting a double-double in two of the first three contests. Smith fouled out of the 119-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday and will spend his time chasing around Nicolas Batum against Portland.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (2-3): Detroit struggled to defend without fouling against the Thunder and had both Smith and Kyle Singler foul out of the contest while Drummond was limited to 23 minutes. The Pistons squandered strong starts against both Indiana and Oklahoma City, allowing an average of 62.5 second-half points to let early leads slip away. Detroit played four of its first five games at home - suffering a 111-108 overtime loss in the lone road contest at Memphis - and will play four straight and six of the next eight on the road.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (4-2): Aldridge is becoming a force on both ends for Portland, and coach Terry Stotts heaped praise on his All-Star after Saturday’s 96-85 win at Sacramento. “He was aggressive taking the ball to the paint,” Stotts said. “He was rebounding the ball well. He is a stabilizing influence out there defensively. … We’re all into it but I thought (Aldridge) was very good defensively as well.” Aldridge’s all-around game helped to make up for a rare off night from Lillard, who struggled to 1-of-15 from the floor after averaging 23.8 points in the first five contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Portland has taken seven of the last nine meetings and beat the Pistons at home 112-101 on Mar. 16.
2. Detroit G Brandon Jennings is averaging 17.7 points and seven assists in three games since returning to the lineup.
3. Blazers G Wesley Matthews has scored 18 or more points in five straight games - the longest streak of his career.